As a follow up to my previous post, the BBC is reporting today that North Korea will continue to cooperate with the United States on ending its nuclear program.
After three days worth of talks between U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth and North Korean officials, the country’s foreign ministry said North Korea would work with the US to “narrow remaining differences”.
The outcome of the talks comes as a surprise, as expectations for positive negotiations were low at the start of the series of meetings. According to the North Korea foreign ministry however, “the two sides were able to deepen mutual understanding, narrow differences in views and find considerable common ground. A series of mutual understandings were also reached on the need to resume the six party talks,” which Kim Jong-il had previously truncated.
Historically, the six party talks aimed to develop a peaceful resolution to concerns about international security which stemmed from the escalation of North Korean nuclear weapons program. The series of meetings took place between six nations: the People’s Republic of China; the Republic of Korea (South Korea); the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea); the United States of America; the Russian Federation; and Japan
Special envoy Stepehen Bosworth is now due to fly to Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow to brief officials from the other nations involved in the six-party talks before heading home, reports the BBC article.